Allow
Allow verb - To give permission for or to approve of.
Refrain from and allow are semantically related In some cases you can use "Refrain from" instead a verb "Allow".
Refrain from
Refrain from verb - To resist the temptation of.
Allow and refrain from are semantically related in let go topic. Sometimes you can use "Allow" instead a verb "Refrain from".
Both terms in one sentence
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Similarly, telephone and Internet companies may be served with an order to allow the government to access communications and to refrain from disclosing the fact.
Source: Classified Information - There was a boss in The Burning Crusade whose movement speed was slow enough to allow kiting, and on heroic difficulty some people did indeed refrain from ever getting close to it.
Source: Contractual Boss Immunity - One set of robots didn't have the second part "nor allow a human being to come to harm" and so they could arrange for an "accident" and then refrain from saving them from that "accident".
Source: Thou Shalt Not Kill Muggles
Cite this Source
Refrain from and Allow. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 13, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/allow/refrain_from
Allow & Refrain from. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/allow/refrain_from>.
Refrain from or Allow. 2016. Accessed August 13, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/allow/refrain_from.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "allow" and "refrain from" have occurred on timeline